R. Gutierrez (1771 Group)

As part of the Young Entrepreneurs Forum and the ongoing “Living the Entrepreneurial Experience” class of entrepreneurship students, E.S.A. invited a hard working man and a well sought after restaurateur and entrepreneur in the country. This guest speaker was Mr. Ricky Gutierrez (above, 2nd from left with some E.S.A. faculty members and students). He was able to share within the class his journey on becoming the success that he is today, and the challenges he had to face to achieving his dreams.

According to Gutierrez, the lessons he learned are based on his experiences; it is through the experiential aspect of it all where he gets all the knowledge and wisdom. In order to persevere and strive for achieving the dreams and goals that he had set for himself in his lifetime. There are different stages in his journey to becoming dubbed as the President of JMV Corporation, Founder of the 1771 Group of Restaurants, and CEO of Creative Hotel Concepts, Inc. At first, he had no idea of owning and operating a business. It was through experience that he was able to gather knowledge into becoming what he is today.

Mr. Gutierrez did not start out as successful as he is today. He started out as a fish vendor, earning money for his personal interests. He was able to generate enough income to fund his research on local produce and other ventures he had planned of having. He was able to make the class understand the importance of having an open mind and used approaches that would eventually lead hit to becoming an entrepreneur. Building trust as a foundation in the relationships he was establishing, knowing fully well the benefits that would come with it. Moreover, he defied the unfortunate circumstances thrown at him during the days of Martial Law and the debts he had back then.

One of the things that Mr. Ricky Gutierrez mentioned that really got the attention of entrepreneurship student Alex Gamboa was “Go out and start selling. The only way to LEARN is from EXPERIENCING IT YOURSELF.”

Alex also mentioned that one of the many lessons that inspires us to strive well is that we are given opportunities not just for ourselves, but we are given these opportunities to help others as well.